Supreme Court voids overall campaign contribution limits

Published 6:30 am, Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Photo: AP

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This photo taken Nov. 20, 2013 shows bobblehead dolls representing Supreme Court Justices, from left, David Souter, William Rehnquist, Antonin Scalia, and Ruth Ginsburg, in Washington. They are some of the rarest bobblehead dolls ever produced. Theyre released erratically. Theyre given away for free, not sold. And if you get a certificate to claim one, you have to redeem it at a Washington, DC, law office. The limited edition bobbleheads of U.S. Supreme Court justices are the work of law professor Ross Davies, who has been creating them for the past ten years. When finished, they arrive unannounced on the real justices desks, secreted there by unnamed confederates. And fans will go to some lengths to get one. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

This photo taken Nov. 20, 2013 shows bobblehead dolls representing Supreme Court Justices, from left, David Souter, William Rehnquist, Antonin Scalia, and Ruth Ginsburg, in Washington. They are some of the

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court has struck down limits in federal law on the overall campaign contributions the biggest individual donors may make to candidates, political parties and political action committees.

The justices said in a 5-4 vote Wednesday that Americans have a right to give the legal maximum to candidates for Congress and president, as well as to parties and PACs, without worrying that they will violate the law when they bump up against a limit on all contributions, set at $123,200 for 2013 and 2014. That includes a separate $48,600 cap on contributions to candidates.

But their decision does not undermine limits on individual contributions to candidates for president or Congress, now $2,600 an election.